Sick as a Dog

I realised something the other day. As you know, my pooch has been very poorly for over six weeks now. Because of the illness he hasn’t been able to eat properly, he’s lost weight and his energy has dropped dramatically.

Here’s the realisation – through all of that trauma and difficulty he has remained the same silly, funny, sweet and ever hopeful little furball he always was, albeit he has been a little less greedy and a little more quiet sometimes.

I’ve noted below some of the ways he has been sick, that might help me and you, next time we’re a little (or a lot) under the weather:

He never whinges about his ailments (not even in doggy whimpers) – he just gets on with it,

He doesn’t worry about how bad it could get – he lives in the moment. If he’s being ill, he’ll be ill. Once that’s done, he goes back to his blanket and his toys and his routine,

He takes all the rest he needs. This is an important one. There have been days where he has struggled more than others. On those days, he will just sleep more and play less. He will slow down completely on our walks, to make sure I know he’s not really up for it, and as soon as I’ve figured it out (as a human it takes me longer!) and turned to go home, he practically races home so he can flop on his blanket and recover,

He doesn’t let it mess up his day. He might have been ill in the morning, but if he’s feeling better in the evening, he’ll be there, in my face, with his favourite toy (Monkey) dangling from his mouth, ready to play. If he’s feeling really good, he’ll pull me towards the park when we’re out on our walk, so I know he wants to stay out and play. And if he’s feeling really good he’ll attempt to have a good old roll around in the grass.

Over the weekend we had three good days where the medication was kicking in, he wasn’t ill and there was lots of playing. We’re having a couple of bad ones at the moment – but it’s in the mornings, and guess what? In the evenings we still have a cuddle and he still wants to play with Monkey and investigate all movements in the kitchen.

So next time you’re ill, whether it’s a cold or something more serious, see if you can be sick as a dog. It might just help you recover that little bit faster.